Visitors to our headquarters these past few weeks might have noticed a change to our meeting room.

The archivist has taken over.

In the summer, our programs tend to move outside to the cemetery taking advantage of longer days and warmer weather. Rather than let all that space go to waste, I moved the Corson family papers in. I have three more weeks to get it all foldered, boxed, and described.

Processing a collection like this is the meat and potatoes of archival work, and it’s fascinating to dig (sometimes in a very literal way) into people’s lives. The papers came to us from the Corson family when they sold the Maple Hill property, right on the border of Plymouth and Whitemarsh townships. They were created by three generations of Corsons – Dr. Hiram Corson, his son Dr. Joseph K. Corson, and his grandson, Dr. Edward F. Corson. I’ve wrote about Joseph a few weeks ago, so today I’ll focus on Edward.

Dr. Edward F. Corson in the army during World War I

Edward was born in 1883, the second child of Joseph and Ada Corson. His father was a U.S. Army surgeon and the family moved around to various posts in the West and the South. He was born in Missouri and educated at the Friends’ School in Washington, D.C. while his father was stationed there. In 1895, he enrolled at Germantown Academy while his father was stationed in Wyoming.

Don't worry, later letters show Edward enjoying his time at Germantown Academy.

After graduating in 1901, he went into the family trade, becoming a doctor. He specialized in dermatology. As a young man, Edward traveled quite a bit. We have some letters he wrote to his parents from the White Star Line’s SS “Arabic.” He even traveled to the Far East.

In 1917, Edward married Esther Bisler in Chicago and served in World War I. They had two children and lived in Philadelphia and Lower Merion before eventually settling at the family home, Maple Hill. He died in 1967.

Born in Maple Hill in Whitemarsh Township in 1836, Joseph K. Corson was the son of Dr. Hiram and Ann (Foulke) Corson. He followed his father (and many other members of his family) to the University of Pennsylvania Medical Department. He was studying there in 1861 when the Civil War broke out, and he enlisted as a 90 day volunteer in the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment in Norristown. He was discharged in July of the same year and returned to medical school.

Corson was appointed a medical cadet at an army hospital in Philadelphia while he finished his studies. He graduated in March of 1863 and re-entered the army as an assistant surgeon. He was at several battles including Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania. At the Battle of Bristoe Station on October 14, 1963, Corson, with another man, went back under heavy artillery fire to rescue a wounded soldier and bring him to safety. For his heroism, he was awarded the National Medal of Honor.

After war, he practiced medicine with his father Hiram Corson for a short period, but in 1867 he went back into the army as an assistant surgeon. Over the next decades he was stationed all around the country from upstate New York, Alabama, and out west.

Mary Ada Corson, heartbreaker

While he was stationed in Wyoming, he married Mary Ada Carter, the daughter of Judge William Carter, originally of Virginia. According to a Philadelphia Inquirer article from April 12, 1964, Joseph had competition for Ada’s hand in the form of Captain Arthur MacArthur (eventually father of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and also a National Medal of Honor winner).

The Carter home in Wyoming, where Ada Carter broke Arthur MacArthur's heart

The Corsons had two children. Their daughter, Mary Carter Corson was born at Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama in 1876. Her parents sent her to school in Philadelphia. In 1890, she was returning to her parents after having been away for a year, when her train went over an embankment and she was killed. Their son, Edward F. Corson was born at Jefferson Barrack in Missouri in 1883. He, too, attended the University of Pennsylvania and became a doctor.

Joseph Corson and his two children. Mary died at the age of 14.

Joseph K. Corson died in 1913 and was buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery.